


Black lines on paper/skin

by ScribbleGeek



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brief mention of homophobia, Coming Out, Everyone's an artist instead of a ninja, M/M, Naruto is a weeb, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Romance, SNSWeek2020, Sasuke is a sour smart-ass, Sasuke kinda digs it, Uchiha Itachi Being a Good Brother, but still a bit of a dick, with a lot of tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:53:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleGeek/pseuds/ScribbleGeek
Summary: “What the fuck, Itachi, why in the world would I wanna spend an afternoon drawing some naked old lady?”Itachi only had time to send him a look before the door swung open and hit the wall with a bang. Every head in the room, including Sasuke’s, turned to look at the person who burst through it.“I’m here! I’m here! No worries everyone, your favorite model has arrived!”If the guy’s clothes didn’t blind you - a loud orange hoodie littered with Japanese kanji and pictures from some anime, paired with matching sweatpants - his smile definitely would. And if that didn’t get to you, then those eyes… Sasuke swallowed. He could feel Itachi’s gaze burn a hole in his head. He turned viciously to meet it.“That’s the model?” he whispered, agitated. “Itachi - if you think drawing a naked dude will cheer me up, you - you think I’d like this just because I’m gay?” He mouthed the word instead of speaking it out loud. “I can’t believe you-”“Shut it, Sasuke - I have seen your search history.”(Or in which Itachi brings Sasuke to a croquis class in an attempt to cheer him up after a rough few weeks. Sasuke doesn't really care about croquis. He might care a little bit about the model, though.)
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 31
Kudos: 296





	Black lines on paper/skin

**Author's Note:**

> Bunshin; a synonym for "tattoo" (文身, lit., "patterning the body")

"Lighten up, little brother. This is supposed to be _fun_. Relaxing."

Sasuke glared at Itachi and folded his arms. His brother was an even greater pain in the ass than the wooden stool he was sitting on - and it was a fucking uncomfortable stool. He sighed.

" _You're_ the one who likes to draw. I have no idea why you had to drag me along."

"Because you need to _relax_ ," his brother urged. "You have been in a horrible mood for the last _month_ , Sasuke. You worry me."

Sasuke scowled. His brother rarely showed concern, and the remark made him wonder if perhaps he had been a tad too prickly over the last few weeks. He had just been so on edge over the whole "coming out"-thing that he hadn't been able to sleep.

"If you hadn't hassled me about telling our parents, I wouldn't be in a bad mood," he muttered.

Itachi sent him a reproachful look. "You can't keep it a secret forever, and somehow telling _me_ seems to have put you even more on edge. I just think you'll feel better when it's no longer a secret."

Sasuke couldn't dispute the fact that he had felt worse since he had gathered the courage to tell Itachi he was gay. Not because his brother had reacted poorly, quite the opposite - his support was almost overwhelming. It was that he tried to encourage Sasuke to tell their parents that had made him a nervous (and sour) wreck. Somehow he didn't think his father would take it as well as his brother had.

Sasuke sighed and leaned back a little. He didn't want to talk about it anymore, especially not since they were in a room full of other people, even though they were all spread apart. He glanced at the easel in front of him and scoffed.

"So what are we supposed to draw? What's this class about?"

"It's croquis."

"Croc - what?"

His brother sighed and started talking as if he was explaining something to a small child. "Croquis is life drawing. We are going to sketch a live model."

Sasuke froze. "You mean - as in a _nude_ live model?"

"Uh-huh."

"What the fuck, Itachi, why in the world would I wanna spend an afternoon drawing some naked old lady?"

Itachi only had time to send him a _look_ before the door swung open and hit the wall with a _bang_. Every head in the room, including Sasuke's, turned to look at the person who burst through it.

"I'm here! I'm here! No worries everyone, your favorite model has arrived!"

If the guy's clothes didn't blind you - a loud orange hoodie littered with Japanese kanji and pictures from some anime, paired with matching sweatpants - his smile definitely would. And if that didn't get to you, then those eyes… Sasuke swallowed. He could feel Itachi's gaze burn a hole in his head. He turned viciously to meet it.

"That's the model?" he whispered, agitated. "Itachi - if you think drawing a naked dude will cheer me up, you - you think I'd like this just because I'm _gay_?" He mouthed the word instead of speaking it out loud. "I can't believe you-"

"Shut it, Sasuke - I have seen your search history."

Sasuke shut it. He couldn't hold back the blush that crept up his neck - he was mortified. He hoped desperately that no one else had heard their exchange. He decided to ignore Itachi for the rest of the class.

His eyes drifted back to the model, despite his wish to remain unfazed by the guy's appearance. The blond (holy shit, he was _really_ blond) was talking with the teacher and seemed to be getting scolded for being late (" _again_!"). He was scratching the back of his head and smiled sheepishly as he listened.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he saw something he hadn't noticed before - black tattoos peeking up from under the hoodie that trailed up the guy's neck and branched out in three lines over his cheek. Why would anyone tattoo their _face_?

When the blond turned to face the class, Sasuke saw that the other cheek had gotten the same treatment.

"I'm so sorry for being late, you guys! But don't worry - I'll bring out all of my best moves for you today! I will blow your minds, believe it!"

He was talking just as loud as when he announced his presence after having burst through the door - the word 'annoying' passed through Sasuke's mind. It quickly dispersed as the blond pulled the hoodie over his head and wriggled out of it. The t-shirt he wore underneath rode up a little, and Sasuke's heart jumped - his side seemed to be marked by the same black tattoos as his face. How much ink did he have on his body? Sasuke quickly pushed the thought away before his mind got a chance to grab it and run.

"Naruto, for the hundredth time - go and undress in the changing room! Don't strip before the whole class!"

The teacher swatted him over the head, and Naruto grimaced.

"Granny - ow! What's the point? I'll be naked either way-"

"Get!"

The teacher pushed him (Naruto, apparently) out the door, and they had a short argument in the hall before Naruto laughed - a loud, bright sound that made something flutter in Sasuke's chest. When the teacher turned, she was smiling as well, so whatever they had argued about had clearly been without ill will. They seemed to know each other, although the woman was nowhere near old enough to be Naruto's 'granny'.

Sasuke could feel that Itachi was staring at him again - probably looking smug as shit - but he firmly ignored it. He was busy trying to calm his beating heart. When they said nude - did they mean _completely_? The thought made an embarrassing heat gather beneath his navel - and it confused him. It wasn't as if he hadn't felt attraction before, but this was just weird - his only impression of Naruto so far was that he was an annoying show-off who had an obsession with tattoos. Yet the mere thought of him undressed made Sasuke breathe faster, and what the _fuck_ was _that_ about?

The sting of disappointment Sasuke felt when Naruto came back into the room dressed in a robe made him bite his cheek. Itachi chuckled to his right, and Sasuke pushed back the urge to glare at him. _Just remain calm_ , he thought and forced his breathing back to an average pace. He had practiced his whole life to keep a calm demeanor, and he wasn't going to drop it because someone potentially hot was about to be naked in front of him. He was in a room with ten other people, for god's sake. They were there to _draw_ \- there was nothing intimate about it.

Sasuke choked on that thought when the blond opened up the robe.

He was unfairly fit in a way that could only mean rigorous training - tan skin stretched over rippling muscle as he moved, and the width difference between his shoulders and his waist was just plain _unfair_. As if the canvas wasn't already perfect in itself, Sasuke found that the black tattoos that trailed down almost every part of his body only enhanced the effect.

Without realizing, Sasuke's gaze had dropped dangerously low. Naruto was still wearing black shorts. So the 'nude' thing had been rather exaggerated, then. He looked back up and met a pair of blue eyes that were shining with amusement.

 _Oh, shit_.

"What?" The blond grinned. "Disappointed?"

Sasuke could have died on the spot. He quickly looked away and caught a glimpse of Itachi shaking with withheld laughter behind his easel.

"Sorry, but Granny won't let me pose fully nude, I know you are all very sad about it!" Naruto spread his arms out and hung his head as if he were too.

"I'd rather die than have you prancing around naked in my studio, kid," the teacher barked at him. "You're here because you're good at posing, or I would never have even let you in."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, yeah, calm your humongous tits."

Sasuke had never been to a croquis class before, but even he understood that this should be considered highly inappropriate behavior. The rest of the participants merely giggled or smiled at the exchange, though, so maybe he was wrong. The whole thing was mainly confusing and irritating - just like the blond in the midst of it.

"Okay, we'll start simple - everyone ready?" Naruto slapped the palms of his hands together. "Then, here goes!"

It was as if something otherworldly came over the boisterous person as he flowed seamlessly into a pose. Even his facial features seemed to change as he smoothly found the correct position and stopped, completely still, legs wide apart and arms raised as if he was ready to fight someone.

Sasuke didn't even realize he had been staring until Itachi nudged him. "You're supposed to draw what you see, not memorize it."

Sasuke forgot that he was ignoring his brother for a moment and turned to bite back, but stopped himself. Itachi held a finger to his lips and pointed to the piece of charcoal lying on the tray next to the easel. Wait - they were expected to draw with a chunk of burnt wood? Sasuke picked it up reluctantly, once again wondering what the hell he was doing there. As soon as he looked back up at the model, the question faded away, though. Okay, why the hell not?

He placed the charcoal on the paper in front of him and tried to figure out where to start. He looked back and forth a few times and then decided to just go for it. He started sketching a muscular leg, and when he looked back up - Naruto was moving, flowing into a new pose, different from the first. _What_?

Sasuke stared dumbfounded at him for a moment, and then he glanced over at Itachi's easel. He had already managed to sketch a somewhat accurate portrayal of the earlier pose and was now swiftly working away at the new one.

Sasuke be damned if he was to be this much worse than his brother at anything, so he followed suit. He managed to get about halfway done before Naruto moved again. He swore internally and moved on to put the new pose down on the paper, but once again, he didn't manage to get it done before the blond smoothly switched into another one.

How the heck was he supposed to do this?

"Hm, not bad, but you're trying to put too much detail into each pose."

Sasuke flinched and turned his head. The teacher had leaned forward over his shoulder.

"You have to work more quickly, catch the _shape_ \- and it's ok to change a sketch with the flow of the movement. If you look closely, you'll see that the poses aren't as different as they might seem at first, so if you don't manage to catch it, just let the sketch turn into the new one. It's not supposed to be perfect."

Sasuke glanced over at Itachi's easel again - his sketches looked pretty darn perfect.

"Don't mind him; he's been here every week for the last year and a half. Don't compare yourself to someone else; look at your own improvement, kid." She patted him on the shoulder so hard he almost fell off the stool. "He switched again - get to it!"

Sasuke looked up to see Naruto in a new pose and facing his way. He quickly hid behind the easel and decided to try and finish the latest sketch out of memory instead of risking meeting those blue eyes again.

He kept trying to get the following poses, simplifying each sketch as he attempted to catch up with Naruto's movements.

"Much better, kid. I like how you use the tattoos to find the right shape."

Sasuke glanced up at the teacher, hovering over his shoulder again, and then back on the paper. It was full of black lines, and in his eyes, it looked like a big mess, but yeah - he had tried to trace out the tattoos instead of the whole body.

"Get a new sheet of paper and explore that some more. Ideas like that are what makes you grow - keep going, and perhaps you'll surpass that grump over there someday." She motioned at Itachi, who didn't react in any way to the remark.

Once again, Sasuke was confused by the weird dynamic going on between the teacher, the model, and apparently even his _brother_. Hadn't she told him _not_ to compare himself to someone else, by the way? He ripped the first sheet of paper off and started on a fresh one.

His next set of sketches earned him more praise from the teacher, and he'd lie to himself if he didn't admit that it felt good. Sasuke had almost forgotten about how enamored he had been by the model when he had first entered the room - until he found himself face to face with him.

Sasuke had been busy finishing off the last sketch even as the teacher had thanked them for their efforts, and Naruto had stopped posing. The sudden appearance of his face on the other side of the easel startled Sasuke, and he blinked up at him in surprise.

"So-" the blond started. "-can I see? I heard Tsunade praising you. She doesn't do that a whole lot, ya know."

He fired off a blinding smile, and Sasuke was lost for words. He only gave a curt nod in response, but the way Naruto reacted was as if he had offered him the world.

"Nice! You're the best!" He rounded the easel and leaned down to look. "Wow - I have never seen anyone do that before! You are a genius!"

The 'genius' remark flew way past Sasuke, who was far too busy just remaining calm as Naruto's naked shoulder bumped into his.

"How did you think of doing that? And damn the _hair_ \- it actually looks like me! If I were a bunch of black lines on paper, that would totally be how I looked!"

What? Was he a moron? Sasuke had no idea what the heck he was talking about.

"What's your name?"

Sasuke startled. "Er… Sasuke."

"Cool! I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He pushed a thumb at his naked chest, and Sasuke's gaze followed the motion.

Apparently, his eyes lingered a tad too long because Naruto grinned, and his eyes were dancing with amusement once again. Was he _laughing_ at him?

"So Sasuke - you free right now? Could I like, get you a coffee or something?"

Sasuke stared at him. Was Naruto… asking him out? In the middle of a room with a bunch of other people? While wearing nothing but a pair of tight-fitting shorts?

"Why would I do that, even if I was free?" The words were out even before he thought about them, irritation growing in the pit of his stomach.

The bright smile faded for a moment only to be back in full effect in the next. "'cus you want to?"

"Really?" Sasuke drawled.

"Yeah," a hint of determination found its way into the blond's voice. "You want to. I'm not blind-"

"Maybe you should have your eyesight checked." Sasuke stood, picked up the sketches, and was ready to walk out when a steady hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't mind my little brother; he's just had a couple of rough weeks."

Sasuke wriggled out of his brother's grip. "Shut up, Ita-"

"Coffee and something else to think about is exactly what he needs." Itachi pinned him with that cold stare that always rendered him unable to oppose his older brother. "I'm going home, Sasuke. Let me know when and where you want to get picked up. Dinner at mom and dad's at five, so no later than that, though."

Itachi grabbed the papers in Sasuke's hand and seemed to float out of the room. Sasuke found himself nailed to the floor, staring after him as he disappeared, leaving him with the obnoxious blond.

He glanced over at Naruto and found that he was staring after Itachi as well, looking a little taken aback.

"Okay…" he said carefully, blue eyes still on the door. "Look, I didn't mean to bother you-"

"Coffee, then I'm leaving."

Naruto startled. "Oh, okay! Just let me get my stuff!"

The smile was back, and Sasuke cursed the warmth that filled his chest at the sight of it. Naruto seemed to be an annoyance to be around for longer than five minutes at a time, though - nice to look at, sure, but other than that, bothersome. Sasuke hoped finding a place and getting that coffee wouldn't take too long. If he proved to be right and Naruto was a pain to be around, he could ditch him and roam around downtown for a bit before calling Itachi.

He had forgotten the wild clothes that Naruto had worn when he first had entered, and he cringed at the thought of being seen with someone looking like that. Who the _fuck_ dressed in orange from head to toe? Naruto Uzumaki, apparently. Sasuke sighed as he watched Naruto bound towards him like a happy puppy.

"Okay, just gonna pick up my pay and we can go! I'll meet you outside!"

With that, he turned and almost bounced over to Tsunade. Sasuke went outside, happy to finally be out of the studio and the strange atmosphere in it. He had no wish whatsoever to watch Naruto interact with the teacher again - it was way too uncomfortable.

For a moment, he considered ditching right away and just do something else, but the thought of the way Naruto had smiled when Sasuke had agreed to come along stopped him. He… wanted to see that again. That wish was almost immediately fulfilled as Naruto came out of the building. He looked so damn happy. Sasuke didn't understand it - it wasn't as if he had agreed in an excited or even a nice way, yet Naruto seemed undeterred.

"I know the perfect place! Best caramel iced latte you'll ever have!"

"I don't like sweet things."

"Oh!" Naruto almost stopped in his tracks but caught himself just as quickly. "That's okay; they have great regular coffee as well! Or at least I'm told so. I wouldn't know. I don't drink black coffee."

Somehow that didn't surprise Sasuke in the slightest. Plus, the thought of this ball of seemingly pure energy downing an espresso was terrifying.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sasuke offered, and Naruto smiled even brighter.

"It's this way." He nodded his head to the road on their left. "It's a bit of a walk, that okay?"

"Sure." So ditching early might not be possible. Sasuke found that perhaps he didn't mind so much as long as Naruto was smiling like that.

"So, Sasuke - whaddya like doing? You draw really well, but I haven't seen you here before, so I'm guessing it's more your brother's thing. He comes almost every week."

"Yeah, he sort of forced me."

Naruto laughed lightly. "I'm not surprised. Like if that guy told me to do something, I'd just do it. Man, he's kinda scary - is he the reason why you've had a rough couple of weeks? He's giving you a hard time or something?"

That was a lot of personal remarks and questions.

"Sort of," Sasuke admitted, hoping Naruto would let it go.

"Well, he seems to care about you, so even if he's a pain, I bet he thinks he's helping. Like today was the first time I ever saw him smile, like, at all, ya know!"

"Yeah, well, he sure likes to laugh at my expense," Sasuke agreed sourly, and Naruto laughed again.

"Kind of what I'd expect of siblings, though I wouldn't know. You got more, or is he the only one?"

"Just the one. He's quite enough."

"I bet!" Naruto grinned, and Sasuke felt unsure whether he was amused by him or Itachi. "So when your brother isn't making you do stuff, what do you do?"

"Work."

"Cool, with what?"

 _Cool_? What was he, _twelve_? "Marketing."

"Really? That's awesome! I know nothing about marketing. I mostly push my stuff on people and hope for the best."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "'Your stuff?'"

"Yeah! I'm an apprentice at the tattoo parlor over on 22nd. You know, Icha Icha Ink?"

Sasuke most definitely did not know about a place called that, or any tattoo parlors at all, for that matter. The occupation didn't surprise him, however. He shook his head.

"Okay, I'll bring you someday! Show you all the amazing stuff my master makes! He's getting old, but he's still one of the best artists, by far! I got lucky. He didn't wanna take me on at first, but I got to him eventually."

"Right." Sasuke was unsure how to respond to that.

"Yeah, he's like, _really_ good, but he only wanted to make pinups when I started as his apprentice, and well, they're not really in style anymore. Not to brag, but my ideas kinda breathed new life into his business."

That was definitely bragging. "Right."

"Yeah, plus my own stuff pulls some people these days! I mainly do manga panels, but I just started doing original stuff as well."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You tattoo manga panels on people?"

"Yeah!" Naruto's eyes shone. "Have you ever read any? Or watched anime?"

"Isn't that stuff for-"

"If you say it's for kids, you haven't watched the right stuff, let me tell ya."

Sasuke frowned, and Naruto seemed to take that as a cue to explain what he meant.

"Like, there's the cute stuff, of course, those on the kids' channels and such, but there's a vast range of different shows and books, ya know. If you watched, like, Offense on Ogre or Deleted and other shows like them, you'd know what I mean. Next time we'll hang at my place, and I'll show you!"

'... _next time_ '? What a presumptions person. At least now, Sasuke understood his choice of apparel a bit better. He glanced at the pictures and kanji that littered the orange hoodie.

Naruto started walking backward, eyes shining as he watched Sasuke. "So, what type of marketing do you do?"

"I'm an analyst."

"Cool! What does that mean?"

Sasuke was starting to wish that he could ditch. How far off was this coffee place?

Naruto's face fell. "Oh, sorry, you don't wanna talk about work? That's what's been stressing you out?"

"What?"

"You look, like, really bothered. Sorry, I'm just excited. I always talk too much when I get excited." He scratched at the back of his neck, looking slightly embarrassed.

"No, it's okay," Sasuke heard himself say. "I just… have a lot on my mind."

"Okay. Wanna talk about it? I totally get it if you don't!"

What a strange offer considering they just met. "I don't."

"Oh, okay."

The silence that followed was deafening. Sasuke realized that he preferred the steady outpour of words and a smile compared to this quiet and seemingly embarrassed version of Naruto.

"Look," Sasuke started. "I can't say I'm used to being asked out randomly." He glanced at the blond, who had stopped walking backward and was trailing beside him, looking down at the ground. "Especially not by guys."

Naruto's head snapped up. There was surprise in his eyes. "What? But you're like, good-looking like hell! People would be crazy not to want to ask you out."

Sasuke decided to ignore the straightforward compliment, although it made his heart beat a little faster. "Girls have tried, sometimes, back in high school, but I'm not, you know - _out_."

Naruto stopped walking, and Sasuke took a few steps before he noticed. He turned to face him, frowning. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Naruto, now seemingly even more surprised, shook his head.

"No one has asked you out since _high school_? And what are you now, like twenty-two?"

"Twenty-three," Sasuke muttered in response, whatever difference the number would make.

"That's crazy!" Naruto touched his head and then threw his arms out to accentuate the point. He hesitated for a moment. "Really, though, that might not have anything to do with being out or not."

Sasuke's frown deepened. To be honest, he hadn't missed getting asked out. In high school, he had merely found it annoying, and at the time, he had yet to even like a guy, so the whole dating thing mostly seemed absurd to him. He hadn't even thought about it until he realized how utterly surprised he had been when Naruto had done it.

"Okay, hear me out - and don't get offended now, okay?" Naruto continued, hands slightly raised in front of him. "You're not the most approachable person I have ever met."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "That's intentional. I prefer not being approached."

"Yeah, okay, but then you won't get asked out a whole lot either."

"I never said I wanted to be asked out, just that it doesn't happen."

A hint of frustration appeared in Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke felt a weird sting of satisfaction.

"Alright, fair - but _I_ still did-"

"Not because of my charming personality, clearly," Sasuke drawled.

Naruto scoffed and sent him a lopsided grin. "Wow - okay. I asked you out because I wanted to get to know you, ya know."

"Why?" Sasuke stared back, eyes narrowed. He didn't know a whole lot about dating, but he was pretty sure this was not how you did it successfully. He did want to know why Naruto had approached him, though.

Naruto motioned a little weakly towards him. "You know, you're cute-" again with the forthright compliments "-and you seemed interested. Plus you're like, a bit of a mystery and I like that - but man, it also _infuriates_ me. What's your deal, Sasuke?"

Sasuke blinked. "My deal?"

"Yeah, like, did someone hurt you or something? Is that why you don't want to be approached?"

More intimately personal questions. "That is none of business."

He suspected that would piss Naruto off, but all he got was the same fleeting irritation. "Okay, you hard-ass, how about this - you ask me something, and if I answer your question you have to answer one of mine."

"Why? You seem perfectly capable of telling me all about yourself without me asking any questions or even show interest in what you are saying."

Naruto stared at him for a moment before he seemed to get what Sasuke had said.

"Damn, you're a bit of a jerk, aren't you?" Finally, there was a hint of exasperation in his voice. "A few years ago I would have probably gone off on you for that."

Sasuke held back a smirk. "Really?"

"Yeah, well, if you want to know more about that, you better answer a question of mine first." Naruto grinned at him, and Sasuke felt the pull at the edges of his own mouth increase.

He scoffed. "Alright. What happens if someone chooses not to answer a question?"

"Um…" Naruto looked up at the sky, squinting and chewing on his bottom lip.

Sasuke allowed himself a small grin. "Don't hurt yourself."

"What?" Once again, it took a moment before Naruto got the slight. "Oh - you absolute ass-"

"The first one to pass on three questions pays for the coffee," Sasuke interrupted as he started walking again. He was pretty sure he had set himself up to fail, but he had money to spare.

"I was gonna pay, but yeah, sure!" Naruto caught up to him in three long strides. "You can start!"

Apparently, he had already forgotten that he had been supposed to ask the first question, but he was smiling again, and Sasuke felt relieved. He wasn't even sure why he had picked a fight to begin with. Naruto was just so damn annoying, and annoying him back felt so satisfying. He probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to try and provoke some sort of reaction out of the blond again soon.

"Alright. How long have you been an apprentice at that studio?" Sasuke had no real interest in that type of stuff, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Plus, Naruto seemed to enjoy talking about it, and Sasuke sort of wanted to see that glow in his eyes again.

"Two years! I just started taking on my own clients two months ago." There was a hint of pride in his voice. "I was sort of bugging Jiraya about taking me on when I was still in high school, but he refused back then. Told me to finish school first, but I just wanted to get out of there."

"Why?" Sasuke asked with a frown.

"Because getting an education is important - you know, the usual."

Sasuke sighed. "No, you dunce, why did you want to get out of there?"

"Nuh-uh! My turn!"

That made Sasuke blink. "Right."

Naruto pinned him with those excessively blue eyes, and Sasuke almost felt nervous about what type of question he'd get.

"When you say you're not _out_ \- do you mean like, at all? Because your brother sure seemed to know."

Sasuke tensed but was still rather relieved that the question wasn't even more personal than that. It was a bit of a sore subject, but one he gathered that Naruto would understand.

"I told him recently. He's the first one to know."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You've kept it a secret from everyone you know until now? What, you never even dated anyone before?"

"That's different." He wasn't about to tell Naruto this was his first official date. His encounters with potential partners had been of a more temporary arrangement than anything else - always planned from behind a screen, implemented, and never spoken of again. "When did you come out?"

"Oh, do you ever _stop_ coming out?" Naruto mumbled, but when he noticed the puzzled look on Sasuke's face, he continued. "There's always new people coming into your life, right? Or maybe not yours, but you know for _real_ people - ow!" He rubbed the spot where Sasuke had elbowed him lightly.

"Moron."

"Jerk!" He grinned. "Anyway - I guess I was like six the first time? I had no idea that's what I was doing, of course, but I told my foster parents I wanted to marry this boy in my class. They were super religious and conservative as hell, so they lost their shit - thought I was possessed by a demon and threw me back into the system before I even understood what had happened."

Sasuke stared at him. "Holy crap."

"Well, they thought themselves to be holier than anything so good riddance. Better off without them."

But there was a hint of something wounded in Naruto's eyes that made Sasuke's blood boil.

"Foster parents?" he asked, somewhat carefully.

Naruto seemed to ignore it being the second question in a row. "My parents died right after I was born."

He didn't elaborate, and Sasuke decided to leave the subject alone unless Naruto showed any sign of actually wanting to talk more about it. Well, shit. Sasuke's apprehension at telling his parents had nothing to do with fear of rejection - he just couldn't stand the thought of potential disappointment. No matter how hard his father could be on him, Sasuke never had to wonder whether or not he was wanted - and his mother sure liked to remind him that he was loved. Naruto's situation had clearly been vastly different.

"My turn!" the blond exclaimed. "You never told me what you do in your free time - what do you do to relax and have fun?"

Sasuke had to think about that for a bit. The word 'fun' threw him a little. What _did_ he enjoy in that kind of way? For as long as he could remember, his past-time activities had always been something he could compete with Itachi in. They had always been in the same sports and creative classes, although Itachi had kept up art far longer than Sasuke ever had the patience for it. In hindsight, Sasuke had never really enjoyed any of those activities. There was ever only one thing he could do that wouldn't end in some sort of competition between them.

"Reading."

"Cool! What? Novels, comics? Oh, do you like fantasy? Or Sci-fi?"

"That's at least four questions too many," Sasuke noted.

"Stingy! Okay, shoot."

Naruto started to walk backward again, and Sasuke wondered for how long he'd be able to do that without tripping over something. He decided to keep an eye out for the idiot.

"Did your master tattoo you?"

"Nah, as I said, he prefers pinups. I have managed to make him branch out, but not this much." He motioned vaguely at his cheeks."A friend made these. He sort of was the one who inspired me to get into it, to begin with, but he's an even bigger bastard than Jiraya, so I had no luck in having him take me on."

"Huh, someone who didn't get bulldozed by your tenacity?"

"Geez, no one could bulldoze Kurama into _anything_." He grimaced. "Ah well, I did manage to make him tattoo me, I guess that counts for something. He wouldn't do that at first, either, the old fart." His face fell, and he pointed at Sasuke. "Hey! That's two questions, you cheater!"

"That one can hardly count as a real question, you idiot."

"Oi!"

Naruto stopped and poked his finger into Sasuke's chest. He halted his step and met the blond's piercing gaze.

"You-" Naruto pressed his finger a little harder against Sasuke. "-might be the biggest jerk I have ever met. Except for maybe your brother."

Sasuke couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped him at the last sentence. "You just called one of your supposed friends a bastard," he pointed out.

Naruto grinned and bit his lower lip again, but in a completely different way than before. Sasuke felt that strange, fluttering feeling in his chest.

"Yeah, okay, true, but that's different. It's not even an insult - it's the truth. If you ever met Kurama, you would agree with me!"

Sasuke furrowed his brows as he tried to wrap his mind around the logic. "So you're saying the reason I'm a jerk is that I'm calling you an idiot, and you don't think you are one?"

"That - and also because _you_ don't think I am one." Naruto leaned in a little closer and moved the finger he had poked into Sasuke's chest up to twirl a strand of dark hair around it instead.

Sasuke froze in his place, unable to move an inch at the sudden touch - but in the next moment, Naruto had turned and was walking away from him.

"Come on - let's cross through here! It's nicer." He motioned towards a park on the other side of the street.

Sasuke inhaled sharply and forced his legs to move. He caught up to the bright being and glanced over at him to see a satisfied smile on his face. It both irritated Sasuke and made that warm feeling come back in full effect. The park seemed to be a bit of a detour considering the direction Naruto had nodded in earlier, but Sasuke found that he didn't mind.

"My turn again!" Naruto exclaimed. "So, tell me what you like to read!"

Still a little dazed, Sasuke looked up at the leafy canopies above. "Non-fiction," he managed to say.

"What? Like lexicons and dictionaries?"

Whatever the blond said, he really was an idiot. "Fact books, biographies, news, those sort of things."

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Okay, biographies I can get, and news are important, but _fact books_? Like the stuff you have to read in school?"

"Try it sometime, and maybe you'll learn something."

"Geez, you won't even cut me a damn break!" Naruto laughed.

Sasuke liked the hint of irritation in his voice almost as much as he enjoyed the sound of that laugh. There was a warmth to it, and something liberated about it that made him feel like everything else around him was cold and stale in comparison.

"True, I won't," he responded. "What do _you_ do in your free time?"

Naruto slowed his step, and something came over him - it reminded Sasuke of the way he had changed when he had started posing in the studio. The thought of Naruto modeling made his cheeks heat up. _Damn_.

"Man, what _don't_ I do," Naruto muttered to the sky. "I do a lot of stuff."

"Not a good enough answer."

The blond chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it. If I'm not practicing with ink, I draw and paint, to keep up the accuracy, ya know. I create some apparel, too-" he tugged at the orange hoodie "-that's one of the things I sometimes try to push on people with my non-existent marketing skills." He grinned broadly at Sasuke. "I like to go out with my friends and play games and just hang. I watch a lot of shows, but like they have to be cool, action-packed - and something supernatural has to be going on, or I'm not interested. And I do martial arts."

Sasuke's interest peaked at the end. "Martial arts? As in several kinds?" That would explain how Naruto was so incredibly fit.

"Yeah! Started with karate way back, cus well - I got beat up by older kids all the time and figured I might be able to punch back. I was angry a _lot_ when I was a kid, so I got in loads of fights and got my ass handed to me every time. I also thought that one lesson of karate would instantly turn me into Bruce Lee." He chuckled and sent Sasuke a small smile. "My sensei noticed how troubled I was, and sorta helped me to calm down a bit. I mean, not instantly, you don't just shake that type of pent up _bad_ stuff, like that-" he snapped his fingers "-but in time it got better. Sensei threatened to kick me out one time if I didn't calm the fuck down, and I had saved money _forever_ to be able to take that one class, so I sorta had to. Sounds a little mean when I say it now, but that got to me, and I listened a lot more to him after that."

Sasuke watched him in silence as an array of different emotions played across Naruto's face while he was talking. The guy had no poker face at all - everything he felt was displayed in his eyes and his features.

Naruto suddenly lit up. "The dojo's where I met Tsunade, by the way! She was a bit of a loose cannon at the time. The first time I got paired with her for sparring, I asked her why a granny would take karate lessons, and she pummeled me so hard into the ground, I almost got a concussion!"

His wide grin faded when he saw Sasuke's face - his concern had apparently been evident.

"Just almost!" Naruto added quickly. "And she felt terrible about it! Came along a few days later, complimented me while doing kata, and offered me the live modeling gig."

Sasuke frowned. "What? She offered a child that type of thing?"

"No! Oh god, no - this was just a few years ago, I had just finished high school." Naruto looked appalled. "Plus, I was kinda broke, so it made it possible for me to continue with karate, which meant a lot to me."

"Right," Sasuke said. That made a lot more sense. "What else do you do?"

"Jiu-jitsu and Shorinji-kempo."

Sasuke had heard of Jiu-jitsu before, but… "Shorinji-kempo?"

"Yeah! It's all about self-improvement and discipline and shit." Sasuke winced at the use of 'discipline' and 'shit' in the same sentence. "It's based on the unity between body and soul, and strength and love." Naruto looked over at Sasuke and mischievously twitched his eyebrows. "It's mainly for self-defense. My sensei pointed me towards it when I showed up bloody at the dojo for like the eleventh time. I think he mainly did it because of the message and the discipline part, but he lured me in with the promise of learning how to defend myself better."

"Ah," Sasuke breathed.

"Wait." Naruto stopped in his tracks. "How many questions was that?"

"Four, I think."

" _What_? You damn _cheat_ -"

"You seemed so content with talking about yourself I felt no need to interrupt." Sasuke shrugged and looked away.

"Jackass! Don't even try to tell me you weren't even interested this time!"

Sasuke smiled but kept his face turned away so that Naruto wouldn't see it. Yeah, alright, he had been genuinely interested. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this interested in another person if he was honest with himself. There was just something about this absolute weirdo that caught - and kept - his attention in a way he wasn't at all used to.

Naruto's face appeared a few inches from his own. "Come on - admit it! You liked hearing me talk about this stuff."

Sasuke managed not to flinch but had to stop walking. "You're annoying."

"Yeah, I know - but you kinda like that, too, don't you?" The smile that followed was blinding.

Sasuke scoffed but didn't know what to say. How far away was this damn coffee place, anyway? He glanced toward the other side of the park to not have to meet Naruto's gaze. They had almost reached the edge of it.

A hand nudged him back to look up into a pair of glittering, blue eyes. "Hey, why is it so hard to admit that you like me? I might be an idiot, but I'm not delusional, ya know."

Sasuke exhaled slowly, still not knowing how to respond to the somewhat brash treatment. People didn't usually demand confessions out of other people like this - he was pretty sure about that at least. Especially not on the first date (was it even a date yet?).

"We just met," he muttered with a scowl.

The blue eyes didn't waver for a second. "Yeah, well, I knew I'd like you from the moment I saw you."

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"Sometimes you just _know_ , ya know? I mean, get me right - it's not like it was love at first sight, I'm not saying anything weird like that, I promise - but I got this feeling that I had to talk to you and see if maybe there was something there."

Strangely enough, Sasuke understood precisely what he meant. He had been captivated by the loudmouth since the moment he had stepped through the door. Despite all the embarrassing things that had gone through his head, Naruto's looks hadn't been the main reason for all the confusing reactions he had called forth from Sasuke.

There was just _something there_.

Sasuke swallowed, and to his surprise - he nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay - I know."

He had almost expected the boisterous blond to jump and fist-pump or something similarly silly, but all he got was a soft smile - and a thumb that carefully stroked his cheek.

"Wow, look, you survived," Naruto mumbled. "I almost thought you would have burst into flames or something."

"Idiot," Sasuke breathed, unable to look away.

A low laugh escaped Naruto's lips. "Yeah, I even admitted it myself now, I guess it's official."

He sent Sasuke another look - was that what affection looked like? - and started to walk, once again leaving a dumbstruck Sasuke behind. He collected himself and followed only to catch a different look on Naruto's face - he almost looked a little bashful.

"Right, my turn-"

"No," Sasuke interrupted, getting irritated about having been forced into a corner earlier. "That, back there - whatever that was - must count as at least _five_ questions."

Naruto laughed. "Okay, _fair_."

The irritation gave him courage, and he reached out and grabbed Naruto's arm, making the orange-clad moron turn around and face him.

"Why did you do that to your face?"

Naruto's eyes widened, and for a moment, Sasuke saw that same wounded look he had had earlier when he had talked about his foster parents.

"Pass."

Sasuke didn't relent, not sure what it was that drove him on. "I will ask four more times, and if you don't answer, I'm out of here."

"Geez, Sasuke, what the fuck?" Naruto frowned for the first time since they had met.

"You pressured me, but can't take it yourself?"

Naruto scoffed. "This is different-"

"Why?"

"Look - I'm sorry I pressured you, I just wanted to know if I had a real chance with you or not. I have like, zero patience and couldn't let it go."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You really won't tell me?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "I'll tell you a part of it, okay? That enough for you?"

Sasuke nodded in approval. He had a feeling he might have pushed a bit too hard.

The blond sighed. "Okay. So the foster system isn't a great environment to grow up in, and I was shuffled around quite a lot. I was in several different families, but I was always trouble in some way or another and got sent back. Those who let me stay the longest often had a bunch of other kids to take care of as well, and _now_ I get that all of us probably felt the same way, but - it felt as if no one cared. No one saw, no one noticed me at all unless I was making some sort of trouble. It… kinda got into my head."

Sasuke didn't understand what any of that had to do with the will to have someone carve ink into your face, but he listened in silence nonetheless, with a feeling of having overstepped horribly growing in the pit of his stomach.

Naruto looked away as he continued. "I got worse as I got older. Feeling invisible was the worst, and I just made up crazier and crazier ways to get people's attention. I turned to a kind of bad crowd for a bit - that's how I met Kurama, by the way - and some shit went down." He inhaled sharply. "Anyway! We both got out of that, and I talked Kurama into doing this-" he motioned at his face "-'cus I figured it would make me stand out, make me less invisible. That's the gist of it, although telling you everything would take for fucking ever. Plus, it's not really a first date type of subject, but now you got to hear some of it anyway since you're such a damn _pain_."

He smiled, albeit a bit weakly, and that wounded look hadn't completely left his eyes. It seemed to be a difficult subject for him, yet he had complied with Sasuke's fiercely inappropriate request. Somehow that made Sasuke feel like both an asshole - and a very lucky person. He figured he might have learned something not meant for anyone to hear.

"You did it to make people see you?" Sasuke asked in a low voice.

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, I was never a looker, but at least now people look."

' _...never a looker'_? Sasuke barely believed what he heard. It sounded like some sort of self-deprecating humor - something he hadn't expected out of someone who just minutes ago had demanded a confession out of him with a confident smile on his face. Even less so from the dynamic and practically glowing person that had thrown the door to the studio open and declared himself to be everyone's favorite model. Yet that confidence seemed to have drained from Naruto now, and as annoyed as he had been by it earlier - Sasuke hated to see it disappear.

"The tattoo's were not what made me look at you."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"They weren't even the _third_ thing I noticed about you." Sasuke just kept talking, afraid of losing momentum. "It was your smile, and then your eyes. After that, your hair."

Naruto bit his bottom lip again, but this time in what seemed to be amazement. His eyes were shining, and to Sasuke's relief, that wounded look was gone.

"Damn," he whispered. "Sasuke, I - I don't know what to say to that." He laughed, a nervous tint to the sound.

Sasuke, however, was not done yet. "The people who don't see you - they are not your people." Naruto's eyes widened. "They are not the ones you are supposed to have in your life. The ones who see you and want to be seen by you; they are."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Man, where were you when I was six?" Naruto muttered.

"Probably in school or at fucking piano practice."

Naruto laughed, and this time it was the same free and unbridled sound that drained out everything else around.

"Shit," he said softly as soon as the laugh had died out. "I'm really starting to like you now."

Sasuke drew in a shaky breath as his heart did a damn somersault in his chest.

Naruto took half a step closer. "Since you see me - does that mean that you'll be one of my people?"

"That depends." Sasuke's mouth suddenly got very dry.

Naruto drew a little closer again. "On whether I see you?"

Sasuke shrugged, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.

Naruto's eyes were shining as he took another step forward. "Do you want me to?"

How the fuck was he supposed to answer that? Especially with Naruto suddenly close enough for Sasuke to count his damn eyelashes? Sasuke had lost his momentum and, with it, his ability to speak. There was only one logical solution; he closed the gap.

Naruto seemed a little perplexed at first, but he adapted quickly, meeting Sasuke with an equal amount of enthusiasm. Sasuke opened his mouth slightly to allow Naruto's tongue past his lips and grabbed at the front of the busy hoodie as a surge of excitement went through his body. His heart was beating so hard it was almost difficult to breathe, and to his utter surprise and shame - he was getting weak in the knees. Luckily Naruto's arms closed around him, pressing him against the amazing body underneath all that orange fabric and keeping him from sagging to the ground.

" _Sasuke_!"

He tore himself away from Naruto at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Shit."

"Yeah - holy shit," Naruto said in a dreamy voice and tried to kiss him again, but Sasuke took a step back and sent him a panicked look. Naruto snapped out of it. "What is it?"

" _My father_ ," Sasuke hissed.

"Oh fuck," Naruto wheezed and straightened. "He doesn't know, does he?"

"He does not."

" _Oh fuck_ ", he exclaimed again.

His father called out again, and Sasuke threw a look over his shoulder. They had reached the very end of the park and had apparently been visible from the road. Fugaku Uchiha had stopped his car by the sidewalk and stood behind the open door on the driver's side with an unreadable look on his face. Sasuke realized there were quite a few people on the street as well - he had been so focused on Naruto that he had been oblivious to the world around them.

"I have to go," he said, dread running up his spine.

"Wait!" Naruto grabbed his hand. "Your number - please? We never even got to have coffee."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto before he turned back towards the car again, and to his relief, he saw Itachi step out on the passenger side. He said something to their father, and Fugaku frowned and got back into the car. Itachi waved, and then - he gave Sasuke two thumbs up. Had the bastard planned this? No, how in the hell would he know where to find them, that was impossible. And at the exact moment, they kissed - no, not a chance. This was just a freak coincidence.

Sasuke fished his phone out of his back pocket and unlocked it as he handed it to Naruto with a trembling hand. Naruto took it, caressing Sasuke's fingers as he did. He quickly tapped in his number and gave it back.

"Okay - there. I called my phone, hope that's okay. I'm gonna want to check on you later to hear how that-" he nodded in the direction of the car "-went, ya know."

Sasuke nodded. At least Itachi was going to be there. His brother was a royal pain most of the time, but at least in this, Sasuke knew he'd have his back.

"Okay," he said breathlessly.

In the next moment, he was pulled into a light embrace and felt lips brush against his forehead.

"Pretty sure I'm gonna miss you, you jerk. This is such a dick move, just leaving me here."

Sasuke scoffed. "You absolute idiot."

"Text me, and I might be _your_ idiot soon enough."

"That's the corniest shit I ever heard."

"Shush, you bastard - you like it."

Okay, so maybe he did. A little. He freed himself from Naruto's embrace and motioned towards the car.

"Talk to you later, then," he said and turned to walk away when he realized something - and turned back with a smirk. "By the way - your smile was not what I noticed first about you; it was that crazy get-up."

Naruto barked out a laugh. "Wow! Well, okay, I'll take that as a compliment! Plus, now I'll never wear a different color or style _ever_ when we hang out, ya know!"

Sasuke scoffed. "That would mean that you'll have to get a _lot_ of orange outfits."

"Consider it done." Naruto fired off that blinding smile again, and Sasuke found himself smiling back.

Facing his father didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I did not plan on writing anything for SNS AU Week at first - but Sunday evening the week before inspiration struck!
> 
> I have been wanting to write Naruto in a modern AU, but I have been so caught up in my multichapter SasuNaru story. I really, really enjoyed this tho!
> 
> I especially like "Kurama mode" tattooed weeb Naruto and his obsession with martial arts. Might reuse him in another fic (or maybe rework this into something longer?).
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this - please, let me know if you did <3


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